I saw more long arm machines at the Paducah show this year then ever before. Of course I had to try them all and listen to why this one was better then the other ones. My opinion they all tested just find and dandy. I was looking at the thread being used on all the machines. Most were using Maxi Loc cone threads. I asked one vendor why that thread and she said it didn't break. The other cone thread used the most was YLI longarm professional thread. John Flynn was using that on his Janome to demo his frame. I can't remember what manufacturer used exactly what threads but the Maxi Loc and YLI were the two most used. Just thought that was interesting.